Greetings from the Floor,
Bills passed off the House floor last week were:
- HF495: modifies residential apartment leases
- HF2265: variances for Department of Human Services background studies
- HF2276: trichloroethylene banned
- SF131: clinic facility fee transparency required for non-emergency services
- SF584: modifies cycle renewal for allied health licensure (physicians assistants, acupuncture practitioners, respiratory care practitioners, etc.)
- HF1997: extends the sunset for Hennepin County job order contracting to December 31, 2024
- HF554: modifies re-establishment process for legal child/parent relationships
- HF1500: allows undocumented immigrants to obtain Minnesota driver’s licenses
- I did not vote for this bill as I feel people should obtain citizenship or a legal status before obtaining driver’s licenses. I’m welcoming of all people who want to be Minnesotans, and live in Moorhead. Before the state provides driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants the federal government needs to act on immigration reform including pathways to citizenship for people who have lived in the U.S. for a number of years.
I had one bill hearing last week. HF578 would change the income requirements for people to take advantage of K-12 tax credits from the current flat threshold of $33,500 to the income threshold for free and reduced price lunch. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the Tax Omnibus Bill.
House finance divisions began rolling out the omnibus budget bills last week. Some divisions have also voted on the bills and sent them to the Ways and Means Committee or the Tax Committee. The Ways and Means Committee is generally the final stop before they hit the House floor, and the Tax Committee will have to hear a couple of the omnibus budget bills. My two finance divisions will hear omnibus bills this week. The final committee deadline is the end of this week, except the Tax Committee has a later deadline as I mentioned some bills still need to go through the Tax Committee before going to Ways and Means (the Capital Investment Division also has more flexibility around deadlines). We have one more week of major committee work before the long floor sessions begin on these omnibus budget bills.
Gov. Walz gave his first State of the State address on Wednesday. The talk before the speech was that it was not going to be written, and that he was going to deliver it off the cuff. I appreciated the governor’s speech in that he connected the policy issues to everyday Minnesotans, and sought to use his proposed budget to improve people’s lives across the state. I thought it was a genuine, heart-felt speech. The governor focused on education, health care and transportation as ways to keep Minnesota’s economy strong. With the state budget still at a surplus, but future budget projections in deficit, we must be smart with expenditures over the next two years to be sure all Minnesotans have the opportunity to succeed.
Thank You for the Opportunity to Serve,
Ben